A Bedtime Story
by SeEmYaWeSoMeNeSs
Summary: "Grandpa, this isn't another stupid bedtime story, is it? I'm too old for that now." A story that hits the teller a little closer to home than his grandkid understands. Can you guess who the grandfather is before the end?


**The style is really weird but I just started writing and this came out. The end of _Inuyasha_ really is bittersweet, you know.**

***Edit: I removed the underlining on the mother's dialogue and switched it for quotations due to a review. Haha, hopefully it'll be easier to understand.**

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_Gather around, a story is to be told._

Grandpa, this isn't another stupid bedtime story, is it? I'm too old for that now. Hey! Don't laugh at me!

_I'm sorry, my boy, it's just that I remember telling the same things to _my _gramps_. _Strange to hear it coming from you after all these years._

Whatever. You going to tell me the story or what?

_Heh, thought you didn't want another bedtime story._

I don't. But now I want to know what you're prattling about—Mom!

"You should treat your elders with more respect, Kato. Or do I have to ground you again for something this silly?"

No, mom, I know. Sorry, grandpa.

"You don't sound like you meant that too much. Dad, you're too soft on him."

_I don't think I am at all. After all, I was quite a bit like him._

"Hmph. And mom wonders why I walked all over you. If you think you can handle him—"

Mom! I'm too old for good night kisses!

"You better watch your tone. And you're definitely not too young, dear, you're eight."

Still.

"Are you backtalking?"

No, mom!

"Uh huh. Sweet dreams."

_Aren't you going to tell your mom 'good night?'_

No.

_What if one day she's whisked away, never to return? How would you feel if you never got to say good bye?_

Fine. Night, mom.

"Good night, Kato. And you, too, dad. Sometimes you worry too much."

_There's never too much worry at this shrine. In fact, if anything I should be _more_ worried. I don't even know why I let you go everywhere you do._

"Because I'm a full grown woman now. Don't think too much about things, dad."

Going to tell me the story or not?

_Of course, of course. I think I'll change it a bit. Years and years ago… There was a young girl named Kagome. Her little brother didn't think her young but, honestly, she was extremely young for what happened to her._

Ugh. The Kagome character again. Gramps, don't you have _other_ characters to make stories up with? It's always the same with her. It was cool when I was little but demons can get boring.

_Heheh, listen to my story, boy. The little brother was about your age, too._

Trying to make it scary? I don't get nightmares very easily, you know.

_Oh, I know. You haven't had any since—_

Hey! Just thinking about demon spiders is creepy, kay? Besides, I was pretty much a _baby_ so really I'm not scared at all anymore.

_Well, this story is most definitely not a ghost story._

Feh, like that would scare me—Gramps, are you okay?

_Yes, yes. I just wish you would listen to what I have to tell you._

Fine. I promise to pay attention. Just stop looking so sad. Mom will get mad at me.

_Well, Kagome's younger brother managed to lose their cat in the wellhouse—silly boy, he was. She helped him and, without warning, hands shot out of the well and grabbed her, dragging her away and down the well._

Is this well like the one here?

_Yes, it is._

Are you trying to scare me?

_Absolutely not._

Pfft. Well, I'm telling you—

_I know, I know, you won't get scared. May I continue?_

Yep.

_She was gone for days—her brother and grandfather looking around for her but she brought herself out of the well, dirty and a bit upset. A while later, her family learned she had been to the feudal era when a hanyou came out, demanding she ret—_

See? Demons. Told ya.

_Want me to skip most of it?_

Go ahead.

_Fine. A few years passed and Kagome's journey became more and more of a struggle for survival. She came home less and less. Until, one day, she came back battered and torn up and couldn't return to the other time on the other side of the well._

What a boring story, gramps.

_It… It's not over._

…Gramps?

_A few more years passed. She completed school. And then… one day while her brother was out… He came home and she wasn't there. She'd gone back down the well._

That's not really much—Are you crying?

_No, no, of course not. Anyway, her little brother spent many years waiting for his sister to return, sure she'd be back. But she never came back._

Hey… gramps?

_Yes, my boy?_

What was the name of her brother?

_Souta. The selfish little brother was named Souta._

That's your name.

_I know._


End file.
